18062 research outputs found
Sort by
Revisiting Geography and Sovereignty in the Digital Age
No full textFair housing advocates have already brought successful lawsuits challenging the use of property technology (“PropTech”) where it has been found to perpetuate or replicate discriminatory practices in a range of contexts including the use of automated screening tools to evaluate prospective tenants. While substantive interventions in unlawful exclusions and differential treatment via PropTech are laudatory, this Article argues that these steps do not go far enough and moreover, that insufficient attention has been paid to the procedural implications of the federal Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) as a source of ex ante enforcement.
The nation’s first fair housing law, the 1866 Act, was ultimately deemed an appropriate exercise of congressional authority to eliminate the “badges and incidents of slavery” in Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. This development, in conjunction with a deep-seated history of exclusionary municipal incorporation as well as other forms of disenfranchisement, indicates that the FHA may offer heightened protection for the participation of marginalized populations in formulating public policies and practices—including the functions of digital technologies—that shape access to housing opportunities in their communities. Rather than focus on PropTech itself, this Article calls for fair housing advocates to center participation parity and principles of self-determination in their reform agendas as a more promising path for developing just cities in the digital age and beyond. To that end, an outline is offered for excavating the procedural justice dimensions in fair housing jurisprudence as a source of political empowerment for protected groups and their allies
California’s Ban on Cruel or Unusual Punishment: A State Constitutional Analysis of Anti-Camping Ordinances
No full textIn Martin v. City of Boise, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit relied on the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment to rule that a class of involuntarily unhoused individuals may not be criminally punished for sleeping on public property in the absence of “sufficient alternatives” for all unhoused people. In Johnson v. City of Grants Pass, the Ninth Circuit elaborated that civil schemes which lead to criminal punishment are unconstitutional as well. However, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in the latter case and disrupted both Ninth Circuit decisions. The Court upheld the anti-camping ordinances in Grants Pass by reasoning that (1) the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause applies only to methods of punishment rather than what can be criminalized to begin with; and (2) state legislatures should have discretion in addressing the public safety issues tied to unhoused encampments in local communities. The Supreme Court’s analysis, however, improperly interpreted Eighth Amendment precedent.
This Note argues that the Supreme Court’s analysis in Grants Pass was not consistent with well-reasoned Eighth Amendment precedent. Moreover, even if the Court’s analysis is accepted, many state constitutions can and should be read independently to confer rights on the unhoused that are broader than those protected under the federal Constitution. This Note uses California—the state with the highest houseless population—as a case example of such independence. Unlike its Eighth Amendment counterpart, California has a cruel or unusual punishment clause contained within its constitution. This Note argues that California’s disjunctive clause clearly offers more extensive individual rights than its federal counterpart, and involuntarily unhoused people must not be criminally punished or fined for sleeping on public property in California
Developing a Low-Temperature Pathway for the Synthesis of Two-Dimensional WS2 Nanosheets
No full textSince their discovery in 2004, two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted great attention due to their unique mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. However, their integration into devices is limited by the high temperatures required for crystalline growth, which prevents the use of flexible and biocompatible substrates like polymers for biomedical and next-generation electronic devices. This project aims to therefore develop a low-temperature synthesis process for two-dimensional tungsten disulfide (WS₂), a material particularly promising due to its tunable bandgap and biocompatibility. We propose that by first depositing an intermediate tungsten oxide film (WOx) via Hollow Cathode Plasma-Assisted Atomic Layer Deposition (HCP-ALD) and then sulfurizing the film through hydrothermal sulfurization, a maximum temperature below 250 °C can be achieved. Initial trials of depositing WOx films on Si substrates at 150 °C and 200 °C showed a relatively high GPC values of 0.695 Å and 0.888 Å, respectively, and XRD measurements indicate significant (022), (240), and (241) orientations present in grown films. These findings show the possibility and benefits of using HCP-ALD to deposit WOx films at low temperatures and lays the groundwork for further study and optimization of growth parameters and resulting effects
Bridging Cultures through Cross-Border Collaboration: A Pathway to Cultural Sustainability Between the UAE and Italy
No full textInternational education is of critical importance in the creation and distribution of the knowledge required to address the complex global challenges faced by society today. Seen through the lens of the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs), internationalisation of higher education can bring new perspectives through collaborative projects. This paper reports on a year-long virtual collaboration between the American University of Sharjah (AUS) in the UAE and the Italy-based program of Dickinson College (USA) as part of the Transformative Sustainability Project. This collaboration involved two courses, on digital and environmental humanities, as students learned about the SDGs, analysed problems, discussed solutions, and applied their knowledge in various group and individual activities centered around the concept of cultural sustainability. The paper discusses the design and approach of this collaborative project, as well as the results of the students’ collaborative assignments, surveys and reflections on their experience. The study found that the virtual exchange enhanced students’ understanding of sustainability beyond environmental concerns, fostered intercultural awareness, and developed leadership and communication skills. Surveys indicated that students experienced growth in cultural sensitivity, critical thinking, and teamwork, despite challenges related to scheduling and collaboration logistics. Finally, the paper proposes some recommendations for the future of virtual exchange for internationalisation and sustainability education
Eliminating Extratextual Exemptions from the Fair Housing Act
No full textThe Supreme Court has held that the language of the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) is “broad and inclusive,” and the Court has given it a broad construction. Correspondingly, the traditional interpretive canons suggest that courts must construe exceptions narrowly. However, some courts have restricted coverage under the FHA by broadly reading an exception or by inferring an exception. The Essay provides several illustrations of this practice and argues against inferred statutory exemptions to the FHA, at least for courts that otherwise adopt a strict textualist approach to statutory construction
Legal and Policy Responses to Sexual Harassment in Housing
No full textThe sexual harassment of low-income women by their housing providers is a clear national problem that has only recently become the focus of coordinated nationwide enforcement efforts by federal agencies, including the Department of Justice. While these developments are welcome, the problem requires proactive responses as well. This Essay examines data from a study of all of DOJ’s sexual harassment in housing cases and uses this information to identify the most problematic types of housing providers and the most common forms of harassment. Specifically, harassment appears to occur most frequently in private rental housing and is perpetuated by managers (usually the owners of the property) who operate with little or no oversight. Additionally, the vast majority of sexual harassment in housing involves a perpetrator who explicitly offers to trade rent for sexual activity. With this in mind, the Essay then suggests targeted legal and policy responses to address the problem
Does an Impaired Sense of Smell Make it Harder to Think About Things like Garlic?
No full textAccording to sensorimotor-based (also called embodied or grounded ) theories of semantic memory, accessing conceptual knowledge about things involves reactivating—or “simulating”—the sensory and motor experiences that we have had with them. For instance, thinking about things for which olfactory experience is dominant (e.g., garlic or a rose) would involve simulating their smell. However, evidence for olfactory simulation when thinking about smelly” things is sparse and mixed. We tested smell-impaired (“anosmic”) and control participants (N=130 in the anosmic group and N=190 in the control group) on three tasks (1) Picture-Word Verification, (2) Semantic Property Verification, and (3) Free Recall. We predicted that anosmic participants should have more difficulty with smell/taste-experienced items compared to control participants but perform similarly on “non-smelly” items primarily experienced via other sensory or motor modalities (e.g., zipper, water). In preliminary analyses of picture-word verification and semantic property verification data, anosmic and control participants performed similarly across smelly and non-smelly items. Analyses were conducted by observing differences in accuracy and reaction time by subject and item. The patterns found suggest that olfactory simulation is not required for identifying or verifying properties of things experienced highly through smell, hinting that conceptual knowledge may not be entirely dependent on embodied sensory information
The role of Myosin L in the survival of Toxoplasma gondii and the importance of MLC1 for in vitro and in vivo Myosin F motility
No full textMy thesis discusses the work that I have conducted on two myosins in Toxoplasma gondii, which is an obligate intracellular parasite that has chronically infected around 10% of the American population. It causes toxoplasmosis and severe health consequences for individuals with compromised immune systems or when infections occur in utero. However, immunocompetent individuals are asymptomatic or present with subclinical symptoms. In the Heaslip lab, I investigated two myosins in the parasite: Myosin L and Myosin F. MyoL is an uncharacterized motor that localizes at the apical end of the parasite. It was shown to be important for parasite survival. However, it is not involved with the localizations of apical secretory organelles or the organization of structural proteins. Based on its predicted structure, the protein could be involved in capturing actin at the conoid to translocate to MyoH. For actin organization, MyoF is theorized to be an actin linker protein that is associated with the light chains called CaM and MLC1. CaM was shown to be essential for MyoF motility, while it is unknown how essential or important MLC1 is for MyoF motility in vitro and in vivo. Using motility assays, MLC1 is shown to be nonessential for MyoF motility, and it cannot rescue MyoF motility when CaM is removed. Further, MLC1 is not essential in vivo with the directed velocities of dense granules and the localizations of apicoplasts unaffected after MLC1 is knocked out
Serological Evaluation for Leptospirosis on Samples Received by the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (CVMDL)
No full textLeptospirosis is a globally distributed zoonotic disease caused by pathogenic species of Leptospira, motile spirochetes capable of infecting humans and animals. Transmission typically occurs through contact with water or soil contaminated by the urine of reservoirs or infected animals. Although leptospirosis is considered a neglected tropical disease, its geographic range is expanding due to climate change and urbanization. Surveillance remains limited in many regions, especially in the United States. This study aimed to assess the seroprevalence and serovar diversity of Leptospira exposure in a variety of domestic and wild animals submitted to the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (CVMDL).
A total of 144 serum samples were tested using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT), targeting 32 Leptospiraserovars. Samples were divided into four groups: two domestic animal groups consisting of livestock and companion animals, and two wildlife groups composed of wolves and bobcats. Serological reactivity patterns were visualized using heatmaps, and diversity was further assessed using the Shannon Diversity Index.
Results showed that domestic animals exhibited broad serovar reactivity, likely influenced by vaccination. Wild animal groups showed narrower reactivity patterns, consistent with natural exposure to circulating environmental strains. The highest serovar diversity was observed in bobcats from Hartford County, Connecticut, with the most observed serovar being Leptospira licerasiae. These findings support the continued use of MAT within a One Health surveillance framework and highlight the importance of wildlife monitoring in understanding regional Leptospira circulation. Expanded surveillance efforts are warranted to define environmental reservoirs, risk of spillover, and guide public health interventions
Quality of Affected Upper Extremity Use During a Ride-On Toy-Based Training Program in Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Study
No full textUnilateral cerebral palsy (UCP) is a subtype of cerebral palsy that impacts movement and coordination on one side of the body. This condition often leads to reduced use of the affected upper extremity in daily tasks. This pilot study explored the feasibility and potential of a joystick-operated ride-on-toy training program as an engaging home-based and play-based intervention to promote affected upper extremity use in children with UCP. Five children from a larger sample of 15 children with a diagnosis of UCP between the ages of 3 and 8 years old were used as data for this thesis. This study included a six-week control phase during which children received treatment-as-usual, followed by a six-week intervention phase in which in addition to treatment-as-usual, children had training sessions twice a week using the modified joystick-operated ride-on toy to practice navigation and object-based upper extremity tasks. Datavyu software was used to code the non-navigational, object-based task sections of the videotaped sessions to categorize each upper extremity movement by type, laterality, independence, and fine versus gross motor. Sessions from early (week 1), mid (week 3), and late (week 6) sessions were compared to one another. Behavioral coding and analysis showed that over time children improved in their use of their affected arm during both unimanual and bimanual activities during training sessions. Moreover, children improved independent use of their affected arm with a decrease in the amount of adult assistance required-during performance of object-based functional tasks.Throughout the sessions, children became more independent and increased their use of their affected side to engage in functional task-related activities. These findings support existing literature highlighting the role of motivation and child engagement in successful therapy outcomes. These results provide hope for future play-based interventions and the utilization of a joystick-operated ride-on toy that can be used to create meaningful and accessible alternatives to upper limb therapies